Fishing Lessons
by We Stole Vodka From The Optic
Summary: Toby and Hikari both learned something that day.


**What? Something that **_**isn't angst? **_**I believe I might have tilted the universe a bit with this one.**

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Fishing Lessons

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She held her new Old Fishing Rod nervously, shyly looking away from the Fisherman's soft face.

"Ah… um…"

Toby observed the brunette beside him, creaking open one of his often closed eyes to look at her. Hikari, or at least that's what she said her name was, Toby wasn't sure because he was half-listening to her and half-watching the river for shadows playing on the water's edge, shifted uneasily from foot-to-foot, holding the old fishing rod in her hands.

She was holding it wrong, Toby noticed, but he didn't comment on it. She seemed like a smart girl, she probably fished all the time. Money was hard to come by on a farm. And fishing would make getting the said money a little, albeit only a little, easier.

"Yeah?" He asked, instead, shooting Hikari, whatever her names was, a casual smile. Hikari bit her bottom lip, shifted again from foot-to-foot. She was a nervous girl. And Toby wondered, distantly, if he should tell her to relax. Then he wondered, vaguely, if he should be paying more attention to fishing than this shy rancher who was once more, shifting her feet.

She blushed, the red overcoming her pale complexion, and she looked much like a Shining Strawberry.

"_Mmm… strawberries." _Thought Toby, and he looked up at the slightly overcast sky, as if lost in carefree thought.

Hikari was staring at him with big brown eyes, still blushing and still resembling a Strawberry.

"I…"

Toby turned his gaze back to her, looking at her with his usual air of carefree-ness. Hikari shyly looked to the left, before continuing,

"I… don't know how t-to fish and I was wondering if you… if you could… teach me?"

Toby's eyes widened fully this time, and he blinked a few times, dumbly, as if he really couldn't believe that this rancher, that anyone, didn't know how to fish. Fishing was everything! It was calming, fun, casual, great and… well, a bunch of other words that Toby didn't feel like recalling to the forefront of his mind.

"You… don't know how to fish? Really?"

This time, Hikari full-on blushed from head-to-toe. Looking incredibly embarrassed at her lack of knowledge about fishing, and she hung her head, as if ashamed. Toby felt a little bad for saying that, then, and he frowned just the tiniest bit before looking up at the sky. He supposed he could spare a few minutes of teaching the girl how to fish.

"Okay." He said, and Hikari looked up at him, eyes widening in surprise. The pink still remained on her cheeks, and Toby shot her a very casual, very handsome smile. "I guess I can spare a few minutes…"

He touched her shoulder, guiding her to the edge of the pond. Hikari held the Old Fishing Rod tightly in her hands, wringing it ever-so-slightly as Toby stood behind her. The white-haired fisherman grabbed her arms, tightening her grip on the bottom of the fishing rod. His chest pressed against her back, and he breathed unintentionally on the back of her neck, causing her to shiver slightly and blush even more.

Toby decided that he liked the pink on her cheeks. It reminded him of strawberries.

He liked strawberries.

"Right, so you hold this tightly…" He clasped his hands over hers on the rod, steadying her grip. Hikari tried, desperately, to focus on the lesson but… she was preoccupied with figuring out what Toby smelled like. Salt? Or was that… the smell of the ocean?

"Hikari?" Toby frowned, noticing that Hikari had wandered off into Space Cadet Mode. "Are you paying attention?"

"Ah! Oh… I-I'm sorry… I've…" She blushed and looked to the side. Toby shrugged, and held her hands tightly.

"So, you reel this backwards…" He pulled both of her hands into a back-swing, his chin brushing lasciviously against her shoulder. This time, Toby blushed a little, the pink painting his collarbones slightly. Hikari smelled nice. Like cinnamon and… strawberries? What?

"Okay!" Hikari smiled, and Toby moved her through the motions of casting the Old Fishing Rod. The bob flew gently through the air, landing onto the water and scattering a few of the fishes' shadows that had been playing on the water's edge.

"Wow!" Hikari was grinning now, the shyness seemingly having escaped her. Toby watched the bob bounce on the water, the river glinting with the last dying rays of the sunset.

Sunset? Had he really been out here this long? Toby creaked an eye open, watching as the orange sun began to slowly dip behind Flute Fields. He supposed he had been out at Flute Fields for quite a while…

"Oh! Toby!" Hikari reeled the line back in, the bob now bouncing gently above her shoulder, the hook glistening wetly as the grinning rancher turned to the snow-haired fisherman. Toby turned from the beautiful sunset to look at her, smiling his usual, casual and carefree smile.

"Yeah?"

Hikari hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. He could feel her wide, happy grin pressed against his neck and in turn, Toby grinned a little as well.

"Thank you so much!" She pressed a friendly kiss to Toby's cheek.

He learned something that day.

He learned that Hikari was both very pretty… very clueless at fishing...

And the perfect girl for him.


End file.
